| Just as the Massachusetts state meet competition meets
its' peak some of the top alumni from Franklin Park
are making themselves heard at the national collegiate
level. |
 Among the top names coming out of this past week’s
NCAA qualifying races is past state champion Jonathan
Riley. This Brookline, Mass. native is continuing on
his spectacular senior season. Riley (30:40) won the
Western Region with a two second victory over Jason
Hartmann of Oregon. This is added to Riley’s 8 second
victory over Hartmann in the PAC 10 Championship Race.
Running #1 all season for Stanford University, Riley
will lead his team (#2 in the national polls) into the
NCAA finals at Iowa State on November 20th.
|
 He will be joined by two other familiar names from
Georgetown. Franklyn Sanchez (Lynn Tech) has bounced
between 1st and 3rd for his team all season, leading
them to a second place showing at the Big East
Championships and then placing 6th overall (3rd team)
at the Mid Atlantic Regional. He was a mere 12 seconds
off the winner at the regional. |
| Teammate Mike Smith (Waschusett Reg.) was just ahead of Sanchez (5th
overall) at the Northeast Regional and just behind him
at the Big East. |
| Princeton freshman Tristan Colangelo
(Gloucester) was 31st in the region placing 5th for
his team. Princeton will not receive an NCAA spot. |
Up in the Northeast Region sophomore Tom McArdle of
Dartmouth  was the winner. If Dartmouth doesn’t receive
an at-large berth McArdle will certainly be included
in the Nationals as an individual. This Brookline
graduate will be joined by standout freshman Jarrod
Shoemaker (Sudbury) if Dartmouth gets the at-large
berth. |
Down at UNC Chapel Hill freshman Shalene Flanagan is
causing quite a stir. She won the Southeast Regional
(20:51-6K)leading her team to a second place finish
and a trip to the big dance. This was just another big
race for this Marblehead alumnus as she had already
garnered an ACC Championship win. |
Both wins were over another Massachusetts standout
Sheila Agrawal of Duke  University.
From Swansea, this Case H.S. grad
placed 2nd in the Southeast Regional in what her coach
considered her best race of the year. She’ll be making
the trip to Iowa as well. Agrawal hopes to continue
closing the distance to Flanagan. Behind by 37 seconds
at the ACC Championship she was only 20 seconds down
last week. |
|
The Northeast Region held a bevy of Massachusetts
runners. Placing third overall was Kim Thalmann of
Brown University. A junior from Holliston, Thalmann
ran 20:39 for 6K and will make it to the NCAA’s even
if Brown fails to get their expected at-large bid. |
Spectators were seeing double as sophomore twins Laura
and Kate O’Neill (Milton) placed 5th and 6th
(20:45-20:46) leading Yale to a second place finish
and their first finals trip since their powerhouse
teams of the 80’s. Yale is presently #9 in the
national polls |
|
Dartmouth senior Erin Dromgoole (Millbury,MA) is
returning to top form after two years of injuries. She
placed 14th and is waiting to see if she gets the
invite as an individual. |
| Injuries continue to plague
her team as freshman Kate Polizotto from Nashoba
Regional-Stowe MA (stress fracture) and Lara Neill (Bromfield-Harvard MA) (broken leg) are in recovery. |
Running for the top team in the region, Boston
College, is Julie Spolidoro. Placing 26th overall (#5
team) she’ll be making the trip to Iowa on the 6th
ranked team in the nation. Laura Smith (Wachusett
HS) has performed as the #2-3 runner for the BC Eagles. |
|
Other Northeast runners not going on but starring for
their individual teams are:
19. Michelle Palmer Vermont (FR) Plymouth South HS
24. Lauren Matthews Boston University (JR) Brookline |
| |
